Dell panicked and searched around him, but saw nothing but the corpse of the ant. Yet the screech continued. That same shriek the ant creature let out just wouldn't leave the back of his mind. Holding his head, he felt as if he was going insane.
" What is going on?! Argh! "
Eventually, the shriek stopped... but began again shortly after. Dell stomped his feet like a child in a tantrum, face scrunched and madness erupting from his lungs. He dreaded the thought of having to go forth in his trial, with the constant echoing of that little bastard. He was becoming tired of its voice already, and it had only been with him for a few minutes.
Eventually, he calmed down a bit. Trying to take an analytical view of this situation. The ant stopped for a moment before, but became louder a few moments later, Dell tried to find the reason for this, searching around his thoughts, until he came upon an idea. He walked over to the real ant's dead body, and stared right at it, cutting the shrieks of the ant in his mind short.
' I see. '
As he turned away from the body, the cries began to come back. At that moment, it clicked in Dell's mind. It was almost like the creature and Dell shared minds and sight, when it saw its own body crushed to a pulp it felt devastated, lost for... 'words.' And as soon as the sight ingrained itself in its mind, it shrieked and cried.
' Yeah, take a good look at your dead body. Vermin. '
He chuckled but pulled himself out of his laugh shortly after.
' I'm laughing at the dead body of an ant monster.. am I going crazy? '
Shaking off the thought, he wasn't so upset about the ant creature in his mind, now that he understood it a bit more. But he was not happy about it at all. With a sigh, he took one final glance at the sad, now ruined, bloodied hut. Maybe the creatures in there were smarter resembling something like humans, after all the furniture and construction of it didn't seem as primal as the ant that attacked him.
Still, he grew tired of these random thoughts and decided to press on, walking across the sand and eventually reaching a pathway into the great jungle ahead of him. The grass was also grey, but much darker than the sand - all the plant life and such were painted in shades of grey too. Soon, Dell found himself pushing apart large leaves and branches to clear his pathway strolling deeper into the jungle.
Looking around, for miles all he could see was the scrambling of different plants fighting for territory, but many looked lifeless and drained. He also saw a couple of things that could've been fruits, though he didn't recognize any of them. There were also a lot of roots surging from the ground, making it very uneven and not fun to walk along - the threat of tripping up was always there. Dell wasn't physically tired but was slowly getting mentally tired of walking through the lifeless jungle. Hours passed by, with no sign of life or conflict, just nature.
' Boring... so boring. At least give me something to distract me from this ant piece of sh-... '
Something caught his eye.
' What... is that? Is it dead..? '
What he saw in an opening of the jungle was a tall and scrawny creature laying... though he didn't see it as a 'creature', it looked pretty human, apart from its abnormal height, jet black skin, eyes, and horns on its head. It wore tattered clothes, splashed in a black liquid, which Dell recognized.
' More blood... '
Gripping his oar, he approached the body slowly and squatted down to closely look at it. The body, like the ant, had something similar to an exoskeleton, though it was shattered and destroyed all over. Upon closer inspection though, he realized that the chitin shell was actually more like an armor that the thing was wearing. In its dark hand was also a small, primal knife carved out of what seemed to be some sort of stone, but it was heavily damaged.
' Armour and a weapon. Just as I thought, there is some sort of intelligent life here. Though it seems like this armor and dagger weren't enough for whatever nightmare it encountered'
Dell frowned at the thought. Though, his attention was drawn away by the sound of rustling in the leaves, coming from one direction. Suddenly, the ant in his mind screeched in the same way it did when it fought Dell.
' Shut it, will you? I'm trying to concent- '
All around him, the sound of the rustling erupted, as if the leaves were talking to him, no, warning him. Appearing out of the darkness, a small creature appeared - another ant. Upon registering the creature's presence in his mind, he understood where the rustling around him was coming from.
A legion of darkness materialized itself, stepping out of the leaves as ants, all in different sizes. Dell gulped and felt true despair for the second time. He felt the same hopelessness when he faced the reptile beast in the alley back then. Drowning in the shrieks, he couldn't hear himself think.
'Surrounded... it was a trap! '
However, Dell didn't lose himself fully. Bringing himself back up with the oar, he realized that he was not the same defenseless boy as before, literally. He was something different, with an incredible body bolstered by stamina and strength. Spinning the oar around, he stood defensively, glancing all around him.
' 15... there's 15. I can probably take down 3... maybe.'
His heartbeat drummed on. The adrenaline was setting in, it was fight or die now. And he wasn't going to die, he couldn't. Spinning his oar in the air, he exclaimed into the ocean of screeches:
" Come get me, ant freaks! "
And within a second of his shout, an ant leaped in, swinging its scythe. Dell held his oar tightly and blocked the blow. From behind, another 2 dashed forward. Dell overpowered the ant and knocked him away with a strong kick, turning to face the next aggressors. He took a step back and used the long range of the oar to attack the foremost ant, sending it rolling across the grass. As he was retracting the wooden staff, he was met with a sharp blade digging into his side.
" Argh... Damn insect! "
Tightening his fist, he launched it into the skull of the ant, shattering the chitin on its forehead and sending it flying. The wound wasn't deep, but Dell definitely could feel it. Finally, as the next ant was upon him, he stepped back, receiving a small cut on his arm from its razor-sharp hands. As it grazed him, he readied the oar once more, and swung it like a bat, sending the ant crashing into the floor.
The scene was chaotic - Dell had no experience dealing with a hoard like this, after the short trades of blows he had realized how difficult it truly was to deal with this many enemies, yet he persevered. As one leaped from behind him, he used the end of his oar to send it crashing back, but not before another was upon him. More and more launched at him, he parried a few off of him, and damaged some, but most left wounds across his sturdy figure. His breaths grew sharper and sharper by the second... he didn't have much left.
' 3 is looking mighty unrealistic right now!! '
Eventually, the ants had all been marked with a crack or two in their chitin bodies. It was clear that some had been seriously shocked and wounded by the thrashing... but the true victim was Dellin. His body was coated in slits and cuts, and in his arm and leg, there were deeper wounds that he felt gravely. His stamina was also beginning to wear thin, his movements were slowing, and his damage was lessening.
Still, he took a deep breath and tightly grasped his oar. He could focus on his thoughts for a moment as the ants began to dash in once again. He had noticed a pattern in the way the ants fought him, and it was fairly primitive. A few would engage on him from in front, leaving him defenseless to an attack from behind - this way, the ants would not be getting in the way of each other, and could also have turned in regaining their breaths. Another thing he noticed was that the ants waiting in the ring grew accustomed to Dell standing in the centre. When he moved closer to them, they seemed to panic a little bit, before readying themselves for conflict... which was perfect for Dell.
' This has to work.. '
Three ants leaped forth, bearing their serrated scythes and ready to gouge the flesh of Dell out. He stepped back, and defended against all three with the oar; and just as he had predicted, a trio of ants behind him began to jump into him. As they left the floor and flew into the air, Dell pushed the aggressors he was blocking away from him and turned while dashing toward the ants.
Suddenly, Dell lowered himself and slid on the ground. The attacking ants, in disbelief, stared below at him as he slid under their leaping offense. Instantly, he rolled and pushed himself off the floor, towards an opening in the ring of darkness, and past the clueless ants to the sides of him.
Yes, this was his plan, to abuse their primitive method of hunting and create a gap in the circle, allowing him to escape through it. The ants were such mindless creatures, conditioned into believing that he would fight them three at a time. Their surprise at his actions was the very reason why he was simply allowed to leave their hunt.
Dell smirked at the execution of his plan, but he knew it would not be over yet. As he bolted away from the chitin predators, he heard their cries behind him and the intense rustling of more leaves.
They wouldn't their food escape. But Dell wouldn't accept becoming their food either.
' This time... I will escape. '